If there’s one thing I’ve learned about cooking for a family, it’s that you’ve got to have a few shortcuts up your sleeve. And that there is no shame on relying on some quality pantry staples to make food tastier and life easier. A good jarred salsa, for example, is an excellent shortcut to weeknight […]

Back in the fall, a friend of mine posted this article on my Facebook page. The crux of it is that “easy cooking” is for the most part a myth, and that most recipes and cookbooks marketed as quick, foolproof and effortless aren’t actually any of those things.

Mornings in my house often start with: “Mama, yogut and ganowa!” That’s the sound of my R-challenged two year old calling out for his breakfast. He’s looking for yogurt and granola. And not the kind of granola you buy in a box or from a bulk bin, or even in a fancied-up super expensive bag from the […]

Food bloggers everywhere are guilty of exaggerating and overstating the quality of their recipes. Scan Pinterest and you will find more than one “best-ever,” “life-changing” or “to-die-for” concoction. And while I’ve generally avoided such aggrandizement of my own food, I’m going to make an exception for this salad.

I am writing this post from a small seaside town on the southwest coast of Mexico, where we have been spending the holidays with my family. Our days have been filled with sunning and swimming, beach-strolling, surfing (Kiwi), and market-going and cooking (me). I’m happy to say that after two weeks here I have finally […]

2015 was the year of sweet ‘n salty chicken thighs. This humble recipe for pan-fried chicken thighs basted in a sticky and savoury sauce was the hands-down reader favourite of the year. Trailing behind it, but not by far, were a couple of slow cooker recipes (these Slow Cooker Butter Chicken Sliders and this Healthier […]

Among the more important kitchen lessons I have learned the hard way: never brine a turkey at 8.5 months pregnant. My intentions were good, as intentions always are. I was hosting a crowd for Christmas dinner, and there were expectations. When you write a food blog and profess to be a half-competent home cook, let’s […]

I’ve never been much of a risotto-maker because, well, the stirring. A traditional risotto requires its maker to stand at the stove for a half hour or so and stir. Constantly. No pausing (for, let’s say a glass of wine with a dinner guest, a conversation with spouse or an emergency diaper change) allowed. I rarely have […]

The other day I texted my friend (who is also a mom of two young kids) to tell her that I was feeding my kids hot dogs for dinner. And by “hot dogs,” I actually meant weiners that I had dug out of the back of my freezer, defrosted in a mixing bowl of cold […]

I swore I wouldn’t utter the “P” word this autumn. Does the Internet really need another p—kin spice recipe? But that was August, and this is October, and darn those stacks of orange cans staring at me as I saunter over to the tomato paste aisle. Darn them. I think I can hear them whispering […]